Mother's Day is on the Way!

I just finished Mother’s Day with Markus, the third book in my Holiday Series of children’s books.  That was an enjoyable book to write.  I enjoy writing for children.  There are a lot of stories in my head and I can’t wait to get them down on paper.  What I find most interesting about the writing process is that the stories often end up being quite different from the way I first envisioned them.

I never intended for my stories to rhyme.  Upon further research, however, I discovered that educators believe children learn well with couplets (two lines that rhyme.)  Not to mention, they are fun to write!  Fun and informative is a good description for what I’ve been writing.

I didn’t set out to “expose” the myths and legends of our holiday traditions in exchange for the truth. In fact, I determined that would take the FUN out of them.  What I realized, however, is that the truth CAN be fun!  I believe it takes more imagination and creativity to “pretend” than to “believe” in fictional characters.

I also think it enriches a young mind to know the origins of our traditions. I’m not the only one.  Other parents feel that teaching children the truth of tradition is important, too, and...scripture DOES tell us to get understanding...  That leads me to another element of writing books for children that is different from what I imagined.

I didn’t know I would be relying so heavily on scripture.  Sounds silly. Since I rely heavily on scripture in my own life, I should’ve known I would convey that in my books – especially children’s books.  One thing I did in my Mother’s Day book that I didn’t do in the first two: I added the scripture references to the pages that relate to scriptural truths.  I think I’ll go back and edit Shimmy-Shimmy Shamrock and Easter Lilli and do the same!

Happy Reading…and Happy Holidays!

LaDann Hendley